Did that work? Did my headline make you click?
Well, you’re reading this, so it must have worked a little bit.
I think I can speak for the majority of bloggers out there when I say that we have a love/hate relationship with headlines. Click-bait is a thing; everyone knows it. Some people fall for it — oh, who are we kidding? SHITLOADS of people fall for it — and that translates to more views, and more views translates to…world domination, hopefully.
But then it’s finding that tricky balance between a click-bait title and worthwhile content. And if you’re desperate to come up with some topics, because you feel like your proverbial well has run dry? Then you can fall into the trap of trying to come up with a catchy title that will help you create a fantastic post.
Sometimes that works. But it’s a bit of a gamble, and an easy way to waste time.
And, to be honest, I despise click-bait when I encounter it on places like Facebook. I sometimes avoid clicking on what I know to be good links, recommended by friends, purely out of spite. For the click-baity-ness of it.
I mean, all you have to do is visit websites like ViralNova and Buzzfeed and browse their “articles” to see how ridiculous it can get.
“He heard sounds coming from a storm drain. What he found had me in awe.”
Seriously? Fuck off. I don’t give a shit what had you in awe, because I don’t know you. Pretty simple.
Even the perennial feel-good favourite, Upworthy, participates in shitty, annoying click-baiting practices. It actually caused me to unsubscribe from their email list, because my eyes were starting to get damaged from rolling so far back in my head. I kept getting these headaches after I opened up their emails, y’know?
I used to love creating beautiful titles for my posts, or for anything I wrote. But I’ve completely fallen into the click bait trap. I know that “How to find solace during a difficult breastfeeding relationship” will get more views than “Ray of Light.” But my creative side cringes.
But I’ll keep doing it, because who are we kidding? More views = world domination, like I said before.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering what actually happened when the cat lay down in front of baby C, I’ll tell you: he cuddled her, scrunched her fur a bit, and then grabbed her asshole with his tiny fingers.
Awesome.
~g
Ha! I wholeheartedly agree and also understand the urge. It’s like: “I Can’t Believe He Said That After She Did That Thing.” What?
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Totally! The double edged sword!!
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i also avoid click-bait links, they’re so cheesy! It is tempting, though, to go for the views when titling things. I wonder if there is a balance between creativity and SEO and clicks? Stick to your creative guns, I say!
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But it’s…so…tempting…! I think there’s a balance to be found, but I’m still working on it 😉 but it’s fun to make one of these headlines, every so often!
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Hmmm…actually I almost didn’t click that and abt to move on. And the reason I did was because I saw your blog title and knowing that’s you, I figured that you must hv shit that’s worth reading! Made me chuckle. Totally worth it. 😄 I wld hv clicked on ray of light though – but maybe I’m just weird!!
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That’s funny! Well honestly, I wouldn’t have clicked on it either 😉 I’m glad you did, though! I promise I won’t make a habit of using those titles, ha ha.
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LOL. ;D
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I, too, had to unsubscribe from Upworthy.
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Isn’t it brutal?! I really wanted to keep supporting them, but their headlines made me want to throw up sometimes, and I could NEVER click on them.
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It’s like a spam but from the internet. I fear that, if I click this title my computer will end with lots of virus or pop-up.
But, here is my confession: I have to admit that I am clicking on those titles. I could say it’s for laughing at the poor text or to study the lack of consistence of those post but no… Sometimes I just let myself being caught up. I do want to know what happend to the diver with the shark. I do want to see baby cuddling with puppy (but I clicked on your text because… well.. of you..). So I am one of the many culprit who are feeding those uncreative titles. Mea Culpa…
by the way, nice ending for your story. Did he put his fingers in his mouth afterward? Because my daughter just picking at disgusting things and then … well, yuk.
(sorry for the quality of my english, hope there are not too many mistakes)
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Hey I get it! I’m not judging, I swear 🙂 thank you for reading!
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I know!!! *head banging on the desk by not being able to sound humouristic* I wanted to sound more like ‘looking at those post is like those cheap chocolate we love to hate to eat (yes you read that right).’
Arf… This is when I regret the more that my english is not good enough. We’ll be better next time.
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You’re adorable:)
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Ha! Kids just are drawn to that hole. On cats and probably themselves 🙂
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100% TRUE. Especially with this little guy. I always have to give him something to play with while I change him or his hands are right in there!! 😉
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Love it…great post. The title did make me want to click and the last line was perfect. Kids are gross!
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Ha ha, aren’t they?! Thanks so much for reading 🙂
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The worst ones are those that tell you that you are doing stuff wrong ‘you have been sitting on the toilet wrong your whole life” Ps. That is a real one I saw on facebook recently!
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Oh god I’ve seen that one! Apparently Facebook now penalizes certain clickbait titles and stories, so the reach isn’t as good. Gee I wonder why??
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Really. I still get shit loads in my feed. Ha..
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So do I. So either we are seeing way fewer than there actually are, or Facebook is lying. Hmm…
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